The most cost effective Topical Dutasteride

[olmert]

One problem with this forum is a lot of people treat cost as no burden. Maybe everyone is rich. Maybe everyone wants hair and nothing else in the universe. 

Ten years ago I asked for a recommendation for an affordable hair transplant doctor. 

I got angry responses. No one recommended any doctor. Instead I got vicious posts saying I should not get any transplant at at all, if I am dumb enough to consider cost a factor. Everyone said I should ignore cost and seek the best doctor. 

Anyway, let's assume I'm not rich and want to consider price as a factor. Which topical dutasteride should I get?

Also, I am reviewing Dr Mwamba's topical dutasteride and comparing it to  Xyon. But I am stuck. I can't get Dr. Mwqamba to to tell me how many mL's come in a bottle. The problem is the one answering emails barely speaks English. Does anyone know? 

Edited March 24, 2023 by olmert

[Melvin- Admin]

If cost is an issue, take oral dutasteride. It’s much cheaper. You could micro-dose and save even more money.

[NikosHair]

Quote

The most cost effective Topical Dutasteride

Cost has never been more important than now with the cost of living crisis. The answer to the question of the most 'cost effective' is more nuanced than just cost or cost per ml. It's the second requirement, 'effective', that is far more difficult to compare.

In fact, the whole efficacy of topical as an alternative to low-cost low-dose orals is unproven.

You might want to take a look at a poll I started and the discussion that followed.

 

[olmert]

I’ve been micro-dosing finasteride for years. If I take .25 mg per day, the loss of libido is tolerable. There is a loss, but I can live with it. Now and then, I try to raise it to .32 mg per day, and the libido effect is extreme, so I go off it entirely for a few weeks. Then I start again with .25 mg per day.

I figure Minoxidal works best by pill, but also works a little topically. So I think there is a good chance finasteride/dutasteride will be the same.

I think I can get better hair if I supplement my .25 mg per day finasteride pills with topical dutasteride. If the topical worked well, I might even drop the pill part to reduce sex effects.

But Xyon’s topical dutasteride is $129/month. That is just too much money for me, when topical dutasteride is not clinically proven to stop hair loss, and when SiloxysSystem is also not clinically proven to be a better delivery system. I agree there is solid logic that they work, but I got to factor in the cost, and the alternative of other  topical dutasterides and the alternative of just sticking to the .25 mg per day pill.

@NikosHair, I believe that topicals will do a lot less than pills. Everyone knows topical minoxidal is not as good as minoxidal pills. But topical minoxidal is clinically proven to do at least something. So I figure topical dutasteride probably will too. I agree with you that $129/month is simply not worth it unless you are rich. I don’t know if I can criticize the doctors charging so much. I don’t know if they are getting rich. You need economies of scale for a pharmaceutical. Maybe you have to charge a ridiculous amount for a product that will only be bought by people obsessed with hair, people like us.

@Melvin- Moderator , Dr. Damkerng Pathomvanich told me micro dosing finasteride will do nothing. He did a study that found no benefit to .3 mg/day. I micro-dose anyway. I figure his study was probably small.  Logically, it seems to me a little finasteride should do a little good, though I don’t entirely rule out complicated biological processes where a lot does a lot, and a little does absolutely nothing—perhaps you need a lot to penetrate some barrier to start working at all? I know, Melvin, that you rely upon the topical finasteride study that showed topical finasteride resulted in blood finasteride of only 1% of twhat came from finasteride pills. Meanwhile, this 1% lowered DHT by an enormous 34%, which suggests micro-dosing a pill helps baldness. But this seems to contradict Dr. Pathomvanich’s study.

For now, I decided to supplement my .25 mg/day of finasteride with some kind of topical dutasteride.

So what cheaper topical dutasteride alternatives is there to $129/month?

Edited March 24, 2023 by olmert

[NikosHair]

1 hour ago, olmert said:

I’ve been micro-dosing finasteride for years. If I take .25 mg per day, the loss of libido is tolerable.

You should get your serum DHT levels tested. While 0.25 mg per day sounds small and is only a quarter of a 1mg tablet, studies have shown even at that level, serum DHT is significantly reduced by 50-60%. It really emphasises how potent finasteride is at reducing DHT. If you still get sides at that level I would try 0.125 mg each day or taking 0.25mg every other day. 

[olmert]

@NikosHair, if I will get my DHT measured, I probably need a baseline. If a droop .25 mg/day, how long should I  wait to get a baseline DHT? Then how long on .25 mg/day should I be before re-testing?

But also why do I even need to know my DHT? All that matters is the sex side effects that I notice. 

Edited March 25, 2023 by olmert

[NikosHair]

1 hour ago, olmert said:

if I will get my DHT measured, I probably need a baseline.

It's true you should always get a baseline. Fin has a reasonably short half-life but I would give a week to 10 days after a dose of fin before getting tested.

Another week to 10 days on 0.25mg before getting retested.

1 hour ago, olmert said:

But also why do I even need to know my DHT? All that matters is the sex side effects that I notice. 

It's a reasonable question but the testing will help you understand how your DHT levels respond to different dosages.

Have you tried stopping the fin for a couple of weeks and seeing if your sides disappear?

 

Edited March 25, 2023 by NikosHair

[olmert]

On 3/24/2023 at 9:42 PM, NikosHair said:

Have you tried stopping the fin for a couple of weeks and seeing if your sides disappear?

The side effects disappear whenever I go off fin for 10 days.